. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. keeping clacks before the change was made to a fixed dial and moving hand. We come finally to a piece of archaeological evidence that surpasses all else. Though badly preserved and little studied it might well be the most important classical object ever found; entailing a complete re-estimation of the technical prowess of the Hellenistic Greeks. In 1901 a sunken treasure ship was discovered lying ofT the island of Antikythera, between Greece and ; Many beautiful clas- sical works of statuary were recovered from it, and these arc n
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. keeping clacks before the change was made to a fixed dial and moving hand. We come finally to a piece of archaeological evidence that surpasses all else. Though badly preserved and little studied it might well be the most important classical object ever found; entailing a complete re-estimation of the technical prowess of the Hellenistic Greeks. In 1901 a sunken treasure ship was discovered lying ofT the island of Antikythera, between Greece and ; Many beautiful clas- sical works of statuary were recovered from it, and these arc now amongst the greatest treasures of the National Museum at Athens, Greece. Besides these obviously desirable art relics, there came to the surface some curious pieces of metal, accompanied by traces of what may have been a wooden casing. Two thousand years under the sea had reduced the metal to a mess of corroded fragments of plates, '" The first definitive account of the Antikythera machine was given by Perikles Rediadis in J. Svoronos, Dm Athener Nationalmuseum, Athens, 1908, Textband I, pp. 43-51. Since then, other photographs (mostly very poor) have ap- peared, and an attempt at a reconstruction has been made by Rear Admiral Jean Thcophanidis, Praklika Its Akadeniias Alhenon, Athens, 1934, vol. 9, pp. 140 149 (in French). I am deeply ijratefiil to the Director of the Athens National Museum, M. Karouzos, for providing me with an excellent new set of photos, from which figmes 6-8 are now taken. powdered verdigris, and still recognizable pieces of gear wheels. If it were not for the established dates for other treas- ure from this ship, especially the minor objects found, and for traces of inscriptions on this metal device written in letters agreeing epigraphically with the other ob- jects, one would have little doubt in supposing that such a complicated piece of machinery dated from the 18th century, at the earliest. As it is, estimates agree on ca. 65 ±10 years,
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